OF AGRICULTURE. 119 



steamer loaded with Siberian butter leaves 

 every week one of the Baltic ports and brings to 

 London many thousands of casks of Siberian 

 butter. If I am not wrong, Finland has also 

 joined lately in the same export. 



Without going as far as China, I might quote 

 similar examples from elsewhere, especially from 

 Lombardy. But the above will be enough to 

 caution the reader against hasty conclusions 

 as to the impossibility of feeding 46,000,000 

 people from 78,000,000 acres. They also will 

 enable me to draw the following conclusions : 

 (1) If the soil of the United Kingdom were 

 cultivated only as it was forty-five years ago, 

 24,000,000 people, instead of 17,000,000, could 

 live on home-grown food ; and this culture, 

 while giving occupation to an additional 750,000 

 men, would give nearly 3,000,000 wealthy home 

 customers to the British manufactures. (2) If 

 the cultivable area of the United Kingdom were 

 cultivated as the soil is cultivated on the average 

 in Belgium, the United Kingdom would have food 

 for at least 37,000,000 inhabitants ; and it might 

 export agricultural produce without ceasing to 

 manufacture, so as freely to supply all the needs 

 of a wealthy population. And finally (3), if the 

 population of this country came to be doubled, 

 all that would be required for producing the food 



